I have no right to update any program. OpenCPN now is at 3.2.2 Here at 2.5

Furthermore root is not installed so I have no way to get around the problem.

PDF files in the Library broken.

If you have pdfs that won't open you might have a corrupted install. This can happen at the Pink Coconut drinking Hinano. With Navigatrix running execute:

md5sum /location/of/the ISO

and then compare the checksum that is returned with the checksum that is on the download page. They must match.

Root is there otherwise you would not be able to run the system at all.

The root password is not set on a LiveCD installation. This provides the system double protection from you, a thousand hackers, and millions of bots doing the worst to mess up your system. A root password should not be necessary for most, dare I say all,that you could reasonably expect to do on a LiveCD installation.

Everything you would want to do can be accomplished with sudo prefacing the command. There are a small handful of commands that would require a root login over just using sudo <whatever>. You are not doing any of those things...

Using sudo you can do anything you would want to do to your machine and still have it running. You can still use sudo to trash the system even unintentionally so all hope achieving that is not lost.

If you search the forum there are instructions regarding the process of installing/upgrading. I don't have the URLs at my fingertips ...but take a look. You might also find reasons that a LiveCD is not the optimal medium for a software environment in rapid flux.

Try:

http://navigatrix.net/nxdoc/06_config_nx.html#subsec_configAddApps

Well,
running opencpn does not work as nothing in the config file or setting is updated, due to the authority ? of the file system ? This makes the boat appear in the same place after
a boot every time.
Some people (cruisers trying the Navigatrix), have to add the charts too after a boot.

Upgrading the version: in the help system say use FORCE VERSION in the package manager. Fine, just that option is not there ...

I can not install a new package with the package manager and not upgrade with the instructions available.

Any tracks from the boat or waypoints is removed after a boot. I have done nothing to the system after installation ! Thats why I wanted to run the opencpn asm root to see if things changed. su doesn't work either. I have not been using unix since 1980 something so I am not up to playing around with system features.

As I am cruising around Tahiti, I have not internet access every day and may not be online every day.

Regards
Rolf

Ok, I think I understand what the problem is.

Software on a USB is in a format that is just like a CD. And just like a music CD you cannot change; add or delete the contents of that CD...no matter how many times you play it; or how loudly you sing along with it. The next time you play that CD will be like the first time it was played.

Now some bright people figured out that if you create a persistent file that overlays the information underneath you can modify the way that information functions. You can save that information for re-use later...and "replay" that new information.

It's like those schoolbooks that have clear transparencies that overlay the skeleton of a human. The printed page has the skeleton. The next clear page has the circulation system with the red/blue blood vessels; the next clear overlay contain the major organs; and the last transparency shows all the muscles in the body.

Navigatrix on a USB is in the form called a "LiveCD". There is the basic structure underneath, but the ability to make changes, and have those changes carry over from one session to the next session is through an overlay called a "persistent file"

Navigatrix has two persistent files, or overlays to the basic system or structure. They are casper-rw and home=rw. The first persistent file overlays the root file system. Any changes made to the root file system are actually made to the casper-rw file. Likewise, any changes you make to your home directory are made to the home-rw file.

It looks like you're changing the structure underneath...the printed page with the skeleton of the human; but you are actually changing the clear, transparent overlay that goes over the top.

There are two ways people are confused by this arrangement. The first is that the system functions without the overlays...the persistent files. They are transparent so you will not see them. You will not know if they are there or if they are not there...unless you make changes to the system. This can changes of appearance or changes of substance....remembering the new position of the boat or the addition of new software packages; if you don't have the persistent file it is like you just have a regular CD...nothing carries over from one session to the next no matter how hard you try. It is like sing along with your music CD and wondering why your voice wasn't recorded the next time it's played.

I think you have a copy of Navigatrix that is without the persistent files. It's entirely possible. I chased around trying to reset my keyboard configuration 3 or 4 times before it dawned on me that this was the problem.

Normally the Windows installer will create the persistence files. Some versions of Linux using their "Start-Up Disk Creator" only create the casper.rw. A few month ago a hard core computer user complained to me that he spent an hour poking around and customising only to be lost because none of the changes were saved. I asked how he made the stick. He said he "dd'd the iso and wrote to the boot sector blah, blah, blah" happy to remember how to do the low level commandline transfer. But he didn't have the persistent files....yes, they are that transparent even an experienced computer guy won't see them.

It's easy to fix.

At the boot, as soon as you see the Blue Screen with the Eagle Ray Hit <esc> repeatedly until the screen turns black and stays black.

In the upper left corner will appear:

Boot:

then type in

fix

and the hit <Enter>

The system will create both casper-rw and home-rw. It will take 5-10 minutes.

Now when your boat changes position those changes will be written to your system overlay (home-rw, in this case) and any other changes you make will persist through to the next session.

This leads to the second bit of confusion people have about the system in LiveCD form. The persistent files have a finite capacity. There might still be 2GBs empty on the stick, but if the persistence files are full...they are full and you will get warnings. This is the prime reason addition of software is discouraged. The medium is not designed for extensive modification. There is limited space. A more appropriate solution is a hard disk installation.

Ok, that's fine now I know what's happening ! or how it's working. To me a flash memory is a flash memory and not a cd, but that's due to my use of windows maybe ....

The fix did work ! and I will be very happy to install the system and get rid of windows once this is working and I do understand how to do things.

However, I am still not able to update the opencpn ! The package manager help tells me to use the option FORCE VERSION but that option is not there. I might remove the package but I can not find any option for installing a new package. So the question is : what is the best way or easiest way to upgrade or install new software ?

Rolf

So the option Upgrade and the option Force Version is not
available in the package manager. They are greyed out. Like not enabled.

Still I might remove the package, but there is no option for installing if the package is not in any repository. Which do not seem to be the case. Problem seem to be that the OpenCPN is marked to not be able to upgrade in the package manager !
*Not upgradable !

As far as I can see something is not as it supposed to be in the package manager. One thing more, I do not need any password to launch the pm and there was not need to give a password in when creating the usb. I used the setup-navigatrix.exe did not use the dd and so on.

Rolf

Oh yes, one more interesting thing would be what version to try to install. There is kind of several linux system versions and which one is Navigatrix really ?

Rolf

Take a deep breathe.....

The problem you are experiencing with the package manager is two fold.

When you obtained a copy of the system there is a list of programs installed and a list of packages available from the repositories.

Yes, OpenCPN appears on the list; because it is an installed application. But as far as the system is concerned there are no other options available except to remove it.

Secondly, even when you update the list of software packages available from the prepositories...OpenCPN is not in the repositories. So as far as the system is concerned you are back to the first problem...your only option through the Package Manager is to remove it.

OpenCPN is not available through the repositories; it is available through a Personal Package Archive (ppa). I'm sorry for any confusion. Until recently it was unnecessary (it still is unnecessary, but now it's not as frivolous) and I hadn't given it any thought. We do have a similar problem in that good free help is hard to find.

The instructions for adding OpenCPN's ppa are on their website. They are:.

What they don't tell you is; Open a terminal and execute: Cut'n'paste:to the bottom of the file you have just opened; Save the file; close the editor and then continue with the rest of the commands. Don't let the fact that these are the instruction for Debian, but ubuntu is the location of the ppa...that just the way it is. More information about the ppa is available from https://launchpad.net/~nohal/+archive/opencpn.

Upgrading will also install a little helper package called tinyxml

Now upgrading will break some things as well. AIS through your soundcard will not work unless it is reconfigured. You will have to set up OpenCPN to use gpsd or you will have fits. And I think you will have two OpenCPN icons; one will work. OpenCPN changed the location of their files in the new version and the installer is stock and doesn't accommodate variation.

Thank you ! Now it works ! and I guess there is a lot of sailors out there that want this info included in the system.

My contribution will be to spread the Navigatrix among sailors and now I can remove MSFT from the computer on my boat !

Rolf